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A. INTRODUCTION:
On a hot July day in 1937, Vernon and two of his friends came to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, with $25. They rented the front of a store and talked the grocer into loaning them ingredients to make their first doughnuts. Vernon promised to reimburse the generous grocer. Making the doughnuts became harder, though. They were forced to work long hours in the sticky south without the luxury of air conditioning. Temperatures were also increased by the doughnuts themselves, which were very hot. In spite of the difficulty, the first doughnuts were finally ready to go. However, the three realized that all they had to make deliveries in was their 1936 Pontiac. They converted it to a delivery van by removing the back seat and installing a rack.
After the first day of doughnut making, people passing on the street would enter the doughnut shop, lured in by the smell. They begged Vernon to sell them some of the fresh Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Up to this point, the business had run on wholesale. Vernon decided to sell doughnuts by cutting a window into the wall of the shop. Krispy Kreme became a wholesale and retail business, as it is today.
By 1960, Krispy Kreme was recognized by the green roof and "Marching K's" symbol. The addition of a coffeehouse and a window allowed customers to see the cooking process. In 1973, Rudolph died suddenly and the company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Beatrice Foods Company of Chicago, Illinois. New and different products were used to make the donuts and performance was increased. Attention to detail and quality consequently decreased. A few years later, a group of franchisees, led by Joseph A. McAleer Sr., purchased Krispy Kreme and ...